Error Importing Windows Server RRAS Configuration

Error Importing Windows Server RRAS Configuration Windows Server and the Routing and Remote Access Service (RRAS) is a popular choice for Windows 10 Always On VPN deployments. It is easy to implement and support, offers flexible scalability, and is cost-effective. In addition, it provides support for a TLS-based VPN protocol which is required for many deployments.

Configuration Backup

When deploying RRAS to support Always On VPN, it’s an excellent idea to export the configuration once all settings have been finalized. Often this is done by opening an elevated command window and running netsh.exe ras dump and piping the output to a text file, as shown here.

netsh.exe ras dump > rasconfig.txt

Import Error

Importing a saved configuration is accomplished by opening an elevated command window and running netsh.exe exec [filename], as shown here.

netsh.exe exec rasconfig.txt

Oddly, this doesn’t work by default. The import will fail and return the following error message.

“The following command was not found: ■.”

Error Importing Windows Server RRAS Configuration

Root Cause

Importing the RRAS configuration fails because the default configuration output is saved in Unicode format. Inexplicably this encoding is not recognized by netsh.exe when importing the configuration.

Workaround

Follow the steps below to save the configuration file in a format that can be imported using netsh.exe.

1. Open the exported configuration file using notepad.exe.
2. From the Menu bar choose File > Save As.
3. From the Encoding drop-down list choose ANSI.
4. Click Save.

Error Importing Windows Server RRAS Configuration

Once complete, import the file using netsh.exe exec [filename]. Restart the RemoteAccess service to apply the changes.

PowerShell

Administrators can use PowerShell to export the RRAS configuration and ensure the correct encoding format is used by default. To do this, open an elevated PowerShell window and run the following command.

Invoke-Command -ScriptBlock {netsh ras dump} | Out-File [filename] -Encoding ASCII

You can also find PowerShell script to import and export RRAS configuration on my Github.

Export-VpnServerConfiguration.ps1

Import-VpnServerConfiguration.ps1

Additional Information

Windows 10 Always On VPN and Windows Server Routing and Remote Access Service (RRAS)

Windows 10 Always On VPN Protocol Recommendations for Windows Server Routing and Remote Access Service (RRAS)

DirectAccess Get-NetIPHttpsState Fails on Windows 10 1803

DirectAccess Get-NetIPHttpsState Fails on Windows 10 1803PowerShell is an essential tool for Windows administrators for configuration, task automation, monitoring, reporting, and problem resolution. When troubleshooting DirectAccess connectivity using the IP-HTTPS IPv6 transition technology, the Get-NetIPHttpsConfiguration and Get-NetIPHttpsState PowerShell commands are important for assessing the configuration and current state of the IP-HTTPS connection. When DirectAccess connectivity fails, these are some of the first commands an administrator will use to identify and resolve the issue.

Get-NetIPHttpsState

Get-NetIPHttpsState is especially helpful when IP-HTTPS connectivity fails because it returns an error code and interface status information that can provide clues as to why the connection was not completed successfully.

DirectAccess Get-NetIPHttpsState Fails on Windows 10 1803

No Output in 1803

Beginning with Windows 10 1803, the DirectAccess administrator will notice that Get-NetIPHttpsState returns no data. The output of Get-NetIPHttpsState is blank.

DirectAccess Get-NetIPHttpsState Fails on Windows 10 1803

Changes in 1803

As it turns out, this is a bug first introduced in Windows 10 1803 that is the result of a fundamental change in the way in which the IP-HTTPS interface is implemented in Windows. As of this writing, the bug has not been addressed in Windows 10 1803 or 1809.

Workaround

The good news is that there’s an easy workaround for this. Instead of using Get-NetIPHttpsState, the administrator can retrieve essential information about the IP-HTTPS interface using the following netsh command.

netsh interface httpstunnel show interface

DirectAccess Get-NetIPHttpsState Fails on Windows 10 1803

Additional Information

SSL Certificate Considerations for DirectAccess IP-HTTPS 

Troubleshooting DirectAccess IP-HTTPS Error Code 0x800b0109

Troubleshooting DirectAccess IP-HTTPS Error Code 0x80090326

Troubleshooting DirectAccess IP-HTTPS Error Code 0x90320

Troubleshooting DirectAccess IP-HTTPS Error Code 0x2af9

Troubleshooting DirectAccess IP-HTTPS Error Code 0x800b0101

DirectAccess IPv6 Support for WorkSite and iManage Work

DirectAccess IPv6 Support for WorkSite and iManage WorkiManage Work (formerly WorkSite) is a popular document management system commonly used in the legal, accounting, and financial services industries. Historically, there have been issues getting WorkSite to function over DirectAccess, because WorkSite used IPv4 addresses and DirectAccess clients use IPv6. When a DirectAccess client is outside of the office, it communicates with the DirectAccess server using IPv6 exclusively, so applications that make calls directly to IPv4 addresses won’t work.

One way DirectAccess administrators could make WorkSite function was to use portproxy to create v4tov6 address and port mappings on the client. However, this method is error prone, difficult to troubleshoot and support, and doesn’t scale effectively.

The good news is that beginning with release 9, the iManage Work client application has been upgraded to support IPv6. However, it is not enabled by default. To enable IPv6 support for iManage Work, add the following registry key on the client side (not the server!). No other changes are required.

HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node\Interwoven\WorkSite\Server Common\

Type: REG_SZ
String: IP Address Family
Value: IPv6

DirectAccess IPv6 Support for WorkSite and iManage Work

You can also use the following PowerShell command to add this registry entry.

New-Item -Path “HKLM:\Software\Wow6432Node\Interwoven\WorkSite\Server Common\” -Force
New-ItemProperty -Path “HKLM:\Software\Wow6432Node\Interwoven\WorkSite\Server Common\”-Name “IP Address Family” -PropertyType String -Value IPv6 -Force

After validation testing is complete, deploy the registry setting via Active Directory group policy preferences to all DirectAccess clients and iManage Work will function perfectly over DirectAccess!

Additional Resources

Active Directory Group Policy Preferences on Microsoft TechNet

iManage Web Site

Implementing DirectAccess with Windows Server 2016